Close Proximity
by Kipling Nori
Summary: According to the ancient Jedi texts, it's dangerous to form attachments. Too bad Rey had seen Poe Dameron first. -Damerey-


Rey/Poe kind of took over my brain temporarily. This is unbeta'd.

A:N: I own nothing Star Wars related, sadly

—

Nearly six months had passed since the battle of Crait.

It had been touch and go at first, as the First Order had delivered a devastating blow to the those who opposed them. Fighting back with all their might, the Resistance base was now back in full-swing; clamoring out of the ashes, much like the starbird of legend that the very Rebellion insignia was stylized after. New recruits, weapons, and alliances strengthened the small, but mighty faction.

It had only been a matter of time before the galaxy responded in kind to the diminutive light that refused to be vanquished.

This also meant months had passed since Rey last saw Kylo Ren. His words used to burn in her mind, leaving scars on her subconscious: _"You have no place in this story. You come from nothing."_ But at long last, Rey could now see this couldn't have been further from the truth. She was an integral part in assisting the Resistance. Whether it was fixing broken droids and updating antiquated X-Wings, piloting the Falcon out of a tight spot, and securing her place as the galaxy's last Jedi, Rey was definitely part of the narrative.

At the moment, Rey currently sat aboard the Falcon. It was her home away from home, sitting inside the ship, as it was housed in a Resistance hangar. It was where she went to get away from it all, think, meditate, knowing she was only a few feet away from her friends, knowing she wasn't alone despite her need for periodic solitude.

She also used the Falcon to study her pilfered sacred Jedi texts in was exactly her goal for today.

Perched at the dejarik table, in fact, waiting for C-3PO to continue his reading of the text he had in his hand; he had been assisting her in translating the ancient language the books were written in.

C-3PO's voice was easy to listen to, but also a little easy to drown out. Rey tried her best to focus on his words as she tinkered with the two halves of the lightsaber laying before her. She realized the past few minutes she had been intently studying the broken kyber crystal instead of the droid's lilting speech.

"Threepio," Rey started, causing the droid to pause mid-sentence.

"Yes, Miss Rey?"

"Can you read that last part again?" Hopefully he wouldn't know she wasn't listening.

"Oh! Why yes," C-3PO started the previous line again. "There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no passion as it is a form of attachment which leads to the Dark Side. There is only serenity and calm."

Rey's brain swirled at the thought. Passion as it is a form of attachment? What attachment? To physical items? People? She couldn't help but wonder if any of that Jedi code pertained to what happened to Ben Solo. She knew that Luke had helped his turn to the Dark Side, which always seemed a little far-fetched, but maybe there was more to the story. If he, in fact, had developed an attachment of sorts built out of passion, perhaps that disabled him in someway. _But how could that lean one towards the Dark Side_ , she wondered silently.

She couldn't help but ask the only other being in the room. "Threepio," she was interrupting him yet again. Fortunately for the protocol droid, he was used to it. "What do you think that means? Passion in attachment?"

"I don't suppose I have enough knowledge so say, either way," the gold droid stated diplomatically. "I do know for a fact Mistress Leia would be more than happy to assist you with such a request."

She would indeed. Rey was almost afraid to ask Leia what it meant, afraid of what the older woman would say.

Rey decided she had enough of ancient Jedi texts for the day. "Thank you Threepio, I think I'm done."

"Oh, oh yes, of course."

She watched the gold droid gently place the Jedi textbook back onto the dejarik table and scurry out. Once she could no longer hear his light footsteps exiting via the ship's ramp, Rey sat in much needed silence.

Sighing, she leaned back against the bench, her hands still placed atop the two lightsaber pieces. She relished this moment of quiet time, save for a few coos from Porgs in the distance. She was still finding nests in random areas of the Falcon.

Closing her eyes, she let her mind wander, feeling through Force. _Passion,_ she thought.

A dashing Black Squadron pilot appeared in her thoughts, crowding out everything else in her mind. His face appeared so quickly and unintentionally, she gasped aloud.

"Poe," Rey whispered, although no one else could hear.

Rey allowed her mind to delve further, indulging herself. Like a reel from a holo-film, their first meeting, aboard this very ship, played over in her mind. He smiled, nodded to her and said: _"I know."_ Words spoken to her that seemed so simple, yet impacted her in a way she least expected. It was an acknowledgement that she mattered, she existed; he _knew_ her. Her heart soared at his words, at his smile. At the very thought of him. Little did she know, it was only the beginning.

Over the next few weeks from their first initial meeting, she would catch herself looking for him in the halls, in the hangars, wherever he could be found. Feeling a slight prick of jealousy if she watched him share a laugh with Jessika Pava. Each week her interactions with him became more familiar, but she became shyer and more unsure in his presence. If she ever happened to catch his eyes, she would look away quickly, her heart-rate speeding up. Eventually she caught herself studying his features in the dim-lighting of the debriefing room; getting lost in his chiseled features and dark curls.

Although she often would feel nervous in his presence, her desire to learn more about 'the Best Pilot in the Galaxy' pushed her on in her quest.

But she was careful enough to not get caught, although she could swear that Finn knew more than he let on. However, at times, he was too preoccupied with helping Rose, so they were both in the same boat.

Had she formed a passionate attachment to Poe? Could this be dangerous?

Her cheeks burned the at the idea of doing anything remotely _passionate_ with him. Rey shook her head to break her reverie. As if Poe would want to do _anything_ with her. She was so young in comparison. Rey practically oozed naivete and innocence, she couldn't imagine Poe even noticing her.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Rey stood up from the bench, pocketing her lightsaber pieces in the process. She needed a distraction. Being alone was not helping her meditate on the things she was learning from her Jedi texts, instead her focus was elsewhere.

Rey wandered down the halls of the hangar, hustle and bustle commenced around her as the Black Squadron took off in a training exercise. She watched briefly as the starfighters flew up and out across the expanse of the sky. To her, nothing sounded better than X-Wings breaking atmo.

The corner of her mouth twitching upward at the thought of Poe in the lead position, shouting orders and showing off.

Within minutes, Rey found herself in the commissary. Right off the bat, Rose saw her and motioned her over, as she was sitting at a small table with Kaydel Ko, and they had an extra seat.

"You came at the perfect time. We're doing girl talk, y'know," Kaydel said slyly.

Rey blinked. Oh boy, she was rusty at this. "Oh yes, of course."

Rose grinned, "We're talking about boys."

Rey took a seat and felt a wave of nerves. Ugh, the last thing she needed to talk about, but she couldn't help herself. "Oh, really? Anyone in particular?"

Kaydel leaned in and whispered, "Iolo." Rose laughed at her. Prompting Kaydel to retort, "what? He's cute!"

Rey could see Iolo Arana's draw, as he was conventionally good-looking and seemingly nice, and a good pilot, but Rey hadn't paid him much mind.

"Speaking of which," Rose offered. She nodded her head, prompting Kaydel and Rey to turn around. A whoop and holler came out, the Black Squadron was back already, and apparently in need of caf.

Snap, Iolo, Jessika and Poe sauntered into the commissary, freshly out of flight-suits. Rey felt her chest tighten. She really hated her body's reaction sometimes.

Iolo walked over to them and winked at Kaydel. "Evenin' ladies."

Rose and Kaydel said hi back, where as Rey nodded. Poe was coming in right behind Iolo and suddenly she couldn't find her words.

"Oh, Iolo, you're so smooth," Poe jabbed at his friend with a laugh. He greeted the girls at the table and then looked over at Rey, who looked away immediately. "Well, uh, see around," he said somewhat cheerfully. And with that, he was gone.

A sharp alert came over the intercom, it was one regularly used during emergency training sessions.

Kaydel got up with a groan, "Ugh, that's me." She said her goodbyes and took off, leaving Rose and Rey behind.

"So, can you tell me what that was was all about," Rose asked, as soon as Kaydel was out of earshot.

Rey wasn't entirely sure was she was taling about. "What?"

"Poe," Rose said, raising an eyebrow. "You gave him the cold shoulder."

"I did?!"

"Yeah, did he get on your bad side or something?" Rose's expression changed drastically. "Did he ... try anything with you? He's been known to have a reputation. Unfortunately my sister found out the hard way."

Rey's cheeks blushed at the thought and she shook her head. "No, of course he didn't try anything!"

Rose appraised her friend for a moment before stating matter-of-factly: "Oh honey, you have a crush."

Rey's eyes widened. "A crush? Meaning what exactly?"

"My poor little Jakku-girl," Rose said, taking Rey's hand. Rey had become more used to Finn and Rose's touch of friendly affection, she no longer tried to shy away from it. "It means you _like_ him. Like, you know what I mean... _like_."

Rey sat upright, correcting her posture, hoping it would take effect on her brain as well. "I was afraid you were going to say that."

Rose grinned. "But to be perfectly honest, what's not to like? He's the shining beacon of the Resistance. Make enough recruitment posters of him and you can bet the entire Outer Rim will be knocking down our doors. I mean, let's be honest, who hasn't had a crush on him at some point?" Rose finally noticed the sheer-horror on Rey's face and shook her head. "Sorry, that probably wasn't helpful."

"Now I just sound vain and shallow." Rey said, covering her eyes. She ducked her head down to be even quieter and added, "I don't just like him because he's good-looking."

"I know," the young mechanic said as if she knew the answers to all of the universe's questions. "Well, I've seen the way he looks at you, I don't think this is just one-sided."

"Really?" Rey barely managed to whisper out.

"Really. I wouldn't be a good friend though if I didn't tell you to be careful." Rose added with a grin, "But I know you can kick his ass no matter what."

"What am I going to do? I can't just avoid him all the time," Rey groaned.

I would just tell him. Walk up to him," Rose started moving her arms forward as if she were marching, "and be like, "Hello Commander, I like you. Let's do something about it.' Just kidding don't do that. But maybe, I don't know, get to know him better? Or at least try to be friendly with him. Maybe he thinks you hate him."

The color drained out of Rey's face. "This is terrible."

Rose smirked. "Who knows, maybe he'll tell you he likes you first."

Rey was now more frightened than anything, maybe talking to her friend about the opposite sex was a bad idea.

This discussion wasn't going on for much longer, thank the Force. Rey watched Rose stand up with a sigh, "Well, my break is over. Gotta head back to work."

Rey nodded. "Me too."

Before Rose said goodbye to Rey, she squeezed her shoulder. "You can always kick his ass just for the fun of it."

—

Rey decided the way to focus on something else, was to get her hands dirty. Thankfully, she had been given the task of rewiring the condensers littered around the base. They had been short-circuiting due to inefficient wiring, and Rey could single-handedly rewire them in nearly an hour or less. After she was finished, she would always have extra wire to spare, to extend to another project. Her scavenger side could not be quelled, no matter how much Jedi knowledge she had started to retain.

And much to her strange enjoyment, she had at least 20 she needed to work on and she was more than a little excited. This would help the time pass, at least.

Sitting on her knees, Rey used a harris wrench to pry open the face-plate on her first condenser and set to work. Soon she was face and arms deep in the machine, pulling out circuit boards with deft efficiency. This was one of her happy places, she could let her hands and mind work in perfect harmony and shut out the rest of the world. This is exactly what she needed in order to dislodge weird feelings about any and all resistance pilots.

Rey sensed movement to her left. It was Rose no doubt, back again to prod her with more ideas on how she could 'talk' to Poe.

She pulled out of the condenser. "Rose, I-..."

Poe Dameron was crouching next to her, his face inches from hers.

"Hey Jedi, sorry to bother you."

Awhile back, Poe had started calling her 'Jedi', which Rey found endearing. She never really had a nick-name before.

She wiped a loose tendril from her face with her free hand and stared at him wide-eyed before realizing that was probably rude in polite company.

"Hi! Sorry, I thought you were Rose."

She could feel the nervous energy he was radiating.

He scratched the back of his neck in an effort to dispel said energy. "Um, sorry this isn't the best time..."

"No, it's okay!" Rey said, a little too eagerly. _Calm down_ , she chided herself. "Are you okay? Do you need help with something?"

"I just wanted to ask you, are we okay? I feel like... ugh, sorry, now I sound so lame. Um, I feel like you're avoiding me."

Rey swallowed hard as she watched his face etch with worry. Worry that he had someone done something to incur her wrath, or annoyance. As if that were possible.

Her eyes settled on his mouth. _Passion. Attachment_. She then shook her head. "No, of course not. We are definitely okay." She smiled brightly; she was afraid she was looking like a little girl beaming at her first crush. Which she was, but that was besides the point.

Poe reached out and stroked her cheek with a calloused thumb. "You have some grease ..." Rey felt like she was going to implode. Her breath hitched and she barely moved. But soon his hand was gone, and she bemoaned their lack of proximity.

Rey could feel through the Force Poe's uncertainty. She could feel that he had wanted to touch her, find an excuse to, at least. He was projecting things she kept picking up, and he probably had no idea.

"Can we stand up?" Poe asked. "Crouching like this is terrible on your knees. Ugh, I sound like such an old man." This caused her to giggle.

Once they were finally standing eye to eye, Rey took a leap. Maybe talking to Rose hadn't been such a bad idea. Maybe she was going to regret ever doing this. But as an honest person, she felt she owed Poe an explanation into her weird behavior.

"Poe, I -..." She looked up and caught his eyes. They were beautiful. "I have been acting strangely toward you lately. I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "It's okay, I'm just glad you don't hate me." He gave her a patented-grin, and Rey found the courage she needed.

"No, I don't hate you. I like you."

Poe nodded. "Aww, thank you, I like you too."

Oh gods, this was going to be harder than she thought. "No. I mean, I _like you_..." The last part she said barely above a whisper. She then shook her head as she watched her words sink in. "Is there a more mature way to do this, I've never admitted my feelings to anyone before."

Poe blinked. And Rey's heart fell. Maybe she had read him incorrectly, maybe the feeling she was picking up through the Force wasn't right.

As if coming out of a trance, Poe offered a breathy: "I like you too." He shuffled his feet and looked around. Thankfully no one was in earshot. He looked back at her, his face hopeful. Maybe a touch concerned. "Rey, I have _very_ strong feelings for you. I just thought I was too old for you, among many other things, so I never... took a chance."

Her face couldn't contain her glee. Any uncertainty the ancient Jedi texts had given her, had really only given her the encouragement she needed to act on how she felt. Maybe this was risky territory for a Jedi, but the Force flowing around her felt _good_ and _right._

"Um, so what do we do now?" Rey asked, feeling a little awkward.

Poe took her hands in his, twining their fingers together while lightly caressing her palms with his thumbs. "Gods, you have no idea how long I've wanted to touch you."

Rey swallowed, and felt her heart pick up the pace. "Can- can I kiss you?" It's all she ever wanted, ever since she first laid eyes on him. Her first kiss would be from

him.

His eyes-widened. "Well, sure... you really want our first kiss to be in the hallway?" But Rey wasn't going to be stopped, she was already leaning in. And Poe didn't mind. "Okay, hallway it is."

She gently pressed her lips towards his, her hands on his shoulders as she braced herself. Once she made contact, she felt a jolt of electricity run through her system. His lips were softer than she imagined. His scent filled her nostrils: standard issue soap, caf, X-Wing afterburn. Just Poe.

Poe waited a half second before melding into her, taking over. Rey found herself pushed into the wall, while Poe placed his hand on her neck to angle her better, his tongue brushing against the seam of her lips.

Rey gasped and Poe pulled away.

"Sorry, that was way too fast, too soon."

Rey placed her hands on either side of his face, enjoying how close she could be with him, uninhibited. She was already pulling him back toward her. "No. I like it."

Ancient Jedi texts be damned, the Force _really_ liked them together.


End file.
